SOM 310 Management Communications
Kinds of U.S. Business Letters
(and U.S. Letter-Writing Strategies)
Prepared by L.M. LaDuc, 7/96
What is a business letter?
A business letter is an important document that a writer uses to
accomplishes specific, measureable objectives in interaction with a
specific audience.
- A business letter usually focuses on the reader's interests,
needs, and concerns, often in order to get the writer's aims accomplished
as well as the reader's. The strategy is to build rapport (a positive
social relationship), offer needed information, and then ask for specific
action. In some cases the writer may want to change the reader's
attitude, which is also a kind of action.
- A business letter builds a bridge (rapport) in a number of
ways: expressing shared concerns or objectives, sharing personal or
social information or exeriences, naming shared aquaintances or business
contacts, etc..
- A business letter writer organizes the content of the
letter to that it persuades the reader to agree with the writer's aims.
The strategy is to construct "arguments" that the reader will accept as
valid reasons for acting in ways that the writer has specified.
- A business letter writer employs some device or means to
measure the effectiveness of his or her persuasive effort. For example,
a direct mail sales letter may include a coupon that the reader can
redeem; a letter of termination's effectiveness may be measured by the
fact that the employee does not retaliate with a lawsuit; a letter of
complaint achieves an adjustment or refund.
- A business letter is usually written in Business English
and employs standard western styles of formatting and traditional letter
parts or sections. For example, writers most often use block, modified
block, semi-block, or AMS simplified styles for formatting content, and
the letter parts most often included are the heading, inside address,
salutation, body, close, signature, and reference section.
(See your text for more information about format styles and letter parts.)
Do business letters vary from country to country)
Although business people from many countries rely on Business English
and use standard "western" letter formats, if you conduct business
overseas you will see major and minor differences -- in language, in
format, and strategies of persuasion. The latter element -- the kinds of
srategies that writers use to persuade -- may vary subtly, or greatly
from culture to culture (e.g., nationally, or because of ethnic or
religious differences). While all human communication shares common
elements, even the subtle differences are important to learn about,
because they may mean the difference between success or failure in a
global business venture. [See your International Communication Case
Assignment for more information about this increasingly crucial topic.]
"Kinds" of U.S. Business Letters
There are a wide variety of kinds of business letters and they are
categorized chiefly by function:
(The following list is not exhaustive.)
complaint or adjustment letters ... sales letters (and proposal
letters)
performance appraisals ... good news and bad news letters
hiring and termination letters ... letters of recommendation
fund-raising letters ... request letters
collection letters... problem-solving letters
query letters ... letters of inquiry
refusal letters ... letters of transmittal
goodwill letters... application letters
In conjunction with standard writing strategies (rapport, information,
action), each of these kinds of letters employs certain specific
strategies in order to accomplish its primary purpose., and in addition,
secondary strategies may be employed to accomplish more than one
objective with the same letter. For example, a company may use a direct
mail sales letter to change your attitude about one of its poor-selling
product s, and to get you to place an order as well. The company writers
will likely offer information about how the product has been improved,
and it will use a standard sales technique (e.g., the "star-chain- knot"
) to "close the sale." [Consult your textbook for more information about
this and other specific strategies.]
A writer of a bad news letter will need to decide whether to be direct or
indirect. A writer of a complaint letter will need to get the reader on
his or her side, and be clear about the action desired toremedy the problem.
Directions:
Paying attention to standard Business Englsh and traditional letter
formats, write a variety of letters to people in U.S. companies, as
described in the list of choices below.
(Later in the semester you will also be asked to write letters or memos
to international audiences.)
For practice (and your portfolio):
- Write a draft of a complaint/adjustment letter about a
product or service you have purchased, with which you are very
dissatisfied. Your aim or intent is the completion of the promised
service, a replacement or exchange, an adjustment of the bill, and/or a
refund.
and/or - Write a draft of a letter soliciting funds for some
club or non-profit organization to which you belong. Your aim is to
get the reader to send in a donation.
and/or - Write a draft of an inquiry letter in which you
request information about employment opportunities with a particular
company or organization. Your purpose is to gather information, not to
obtain an interview.
For your graded U.S. business letter assignment:
Write one of the following:
- ) a direct mail sales letter for a product or service that
you have (or could have) developed and for which you intend to start a
marketing campaign. You will need to be clear about the "target
audience" (i.e. the group of potential customers to whom you plan to
direct your sales appeal). You will also need to use an effective selling
technique (e.g., star, chain, knot).
Be sure that your letter employs some element that can be used to measure
the effectiveness of your sales attempt (e.g., an 800#, a coupon, etc.).
or - a series of 3 collection letters, for a commercial
service that your company provides for other businesses. Assume that the
service has already been provided, and that you want to continue to do
business with the audience.
Remember:for a grade you must obtain at least 2 signed responses
and/or edits on your draft; revise; edit and proofread; hand in all
supporting materials with your final draft in a manilla folder: your
notes, preliminary drafts, signed edits, final draft, etc..
Tips for Proceeding:
- List or brainstorm actual and/or possible situations. Be
specific (and exhaustive).
- Think carefully about your purpose and aim.
- Analyze and profile your intended audience.
- Think about the attitude you want to convey to the reader
(Tone -- which is conveyed by careful choice of words)
- Consult your text for examples of American business letter
formats.
- Think carefully about how you want to organize your ideas
to accomplish your objectives and for readers' logical accessibility
to information. (e.g.,decide the best order for giving information to the
readers. Give them just the facts to support your claims and requests;
conciseness matters).
- Think about establishing rapport with you reader. Note
that rapport building differs from culture to culture, and across
gender, class, and other categories of difference (e.g., small business
environments differ from large ones; geography may matter).
- Be clear about the attitude you want the reader to adopt
and the actions you want the reader to take.
- Be sure to respond to readers' needs.
Learning Objectives:
- Practicing letter-writing formats.
- Learning a variety of rapport-building, organizational, and
persuasive strategies.
- Analyzing and adapting content, tone, style, organization,
mechanics, and format to a specific audience's needs.
- Specifying actions desired.
- Constructing "arguments" for various functional kinds of
letters.
Revised 12-17-97 EdC